It’s great being a foreign consumer of Korean dramas. We get the benefit of having an outsider appreciation for them and can enjoy the community of people to whom these shows are a luxury, not just everyday viewing that can be taken for granted. As an outside consumer, you get the experience of getting to fully appreciate these programs as new and exciting, where often Koreans see shows like this all the time and they aren’t all that special. We get a whole new angle of appreciation, much like foreign viewers of our television shows find them much more exciting than us.

However, it can hinder our appreciation to not know the name of a show or an actor, especially when you are talking to a Korean friend who may not know the English title of the drama you’re discussing. It also comes in handy when writing to know the Hangul for an actor or show – or, if you can’t type it in Korean, you can copy+paste it from here ;).
If you are interested in learning to type Hangul, I’ve done a piece of adding keyboards on Windows and you can also buy hangul stickers to add you to your keyboard to help you type faster:

You may notice that a few of these titles are actually the English words written in Hangul, such as “Good Doctor” and “Secret Garden”. That’s quite common to find in Korean dramas, though I’m not too sure why!

Now, knowing Korean actor’s names comes in very handy, especially when trying to look up accurate filmographies and interviews. Here is a list of just some of the names that you may need to know (If I happen to miss someone you want to know, just ask in the comments or on Facebook)

You may notice as you learn more Korean that the Romanized spellings of some Korean names don’t fully match the original. This is, again, another example of how relying on romanizaion can hold back your progress and do more harm than good. It’s best to try to learn hangul as soon as you can as it will help your progress with the language all around. I actually found it really helpful to read Korean names as a way to practice my hangul and pronunciation.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! If you have any comments or questions please share them in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter! Xx